Eco Analysis - UK lending positive again but SME finance still weak (B. Hilliard)

Eco Analysis - UK lending positive again but SME finance still weak (B. Hilliard)

The UK money and credit release showed mortgage approvals picking up much as expected - a slightly faster pace from 63.4k to 66.7k. This is still very low compared to all the hype about the housing boom though but further gains are certain to follow. Consumer credit was a little bit weak at only £0.4bn.

SG: Eco Analysis - US 3Q GDP: Slower growth, but a better mix (B. Jones)

Eco Analysis - US 3Q GDP: Slower growth, but a better mix (B. Jones)
2011.11.22 07:09 AM

■ The Bureau of Economic Analysis pared Q3 GDP growth from 2.5% to 2.0%

Although the headline figure was a touch weaker than our projection (2.2%), the composition of this morning's report was pretty much in line with our thinking. All of the downward adjustment to Q3 GDP could be explained by a larger drag from inventories during the reference period. In contrast to the earlier-reported $5.4-billion build, the real level of stocks actually contracted by $8.5 billion, knocking an additional 0.47 percentage point off Q3 growth. Real final sales advanced at an annualized pace of 3.6%, unchanged from the advance report, as a narrower trade gap was countered by marginally weaker consumer and investment spending. After adjusting for the smaller external deficit, the net contribution to Q3 growth attributable to domestic demand was trimmed by about ¼ percentage point to 3.06%.

SG: Eco Analysis - Forecast Update: Home resales posted smaller decline in Oct (B. Jones)

Eco Analysis - Forecast Update: Home resales posted smaller decline in Oct (B. Jones)
2011.11.21 06:35 AM

■ Available data from state realtor associations suggest resales slipped to 4.85 million

In contrast to our previously published call for a 3.1% drop to a three-month low seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.76 million, the number of homes closed likely dipped by just 1.2% to an above-consensus 4.85 million.

Bloomberg: Societe Generale Undermined by Greek Debt Crisis in Recovery from Kerviel

Related News: Finance, Europe, France, Executive, Markets Magazine
Societe Generale Undermined by Greek Debt Crisis in Recovery from Kerviel
By Richard Tomlinson and Fabio Benedetti-Valentini - Jul 26, 2011 6:15 AM GMT+0900
Bloomberg Markets Magazine

In a locked room on the 33rd floor of Societe Generale (GLE) SA’s 36-story headquarters in western Paris, members of the bank’s fraud control team peer at their computers, scrutinizing the trades being executed by dealers in eight trading rooms on the floors below.